Nearly $5 million is set to go towards AmeriCorps programs across the state.
Nearly $5 million is set to go towards AmeriCorps programs across the state.
AmeriCorps is a government agency that matches volunteers with nonprofits across the country. The funding is set to support over 600 volunteers and comes from competitive grants, which were awarded by AmeriCorps based on the quality of these programs.
Hawley Carlson, executive director of Volunteer West Virginia, says this type of funding is important for types of volunteer work like national park restoration, opioid use prevention and literacy education programs.
“Without this funding from AmeriCorps, and without the support of our senators really getting behind it, we wouldn’t be seeing this amount of funding coming into West Virginia,” Carlson said.
Programs to receive funding include Energy Express AmeriCorps in Morgantown, High Rocks Educational Corporation in Hillsboro, LifeBridge AmeriCorps Drug Prevention in Charleston, Appalachian Forest Heritage Area in Elkins, and Grow Ohio Valley in Wheeling.
The funding also comes after the West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 228 during the 2022 regular session, granting students tuition waivers in exchange for serving as a national service volunteer in the state.
More funding is expected to be announced within the coming days for an additional six programs through federal grant money guaranteed to the state.
Outdoor enthusiasts have a new way to help maintain West Virginia’s natural beauty for future generations.
Outdoor enthusiasts have a new way to help maintain West Virginia’s natural beauty for future generations.
Created in 2021 as a response to a large influx of visitors during the pandemic, the Dolly Sods Wilderness Stewards aim to assist the Monongahela National Forest with managing and protecting the wilderness character of Dolly Sods.
Stewards serve as a resource for visitors entering the backcountry to understand the unique nature of the wilderness, what to expect and how to prepare for the experience of a primitive area. Opportunities to help with other projects such as trail maintenance are available.
No specific background or experience is required to apply, and there is no minimum time commitment. Those who live far away or who can only occasionally volunteer their time are welcome.
The program is a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.
The next training for Trailhead Stewards is tentatively planned for late May.
Volunteer West Virginia announced Friday that it has received a grant of more than $200,000 dollars. The funding was awarded to help the state’s Commission for National and Community Service recruit, manage and retain volunteers.
The funding comes from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps and the nation’s volunteer initiatives. The grant will be used to coordinate volunteers on a number of projects, including how to help communities following natural disasters.
The money is also meant to help West Virginia communities find ways to better coordinate volunteers, says Heather Foster, executive director of Volunteer West Virginia.
“One of the things we’ve seen in the recent flooding and the recent years, West Virginians are the first to go out of their doors and extend their arms and offer hope to their neighbors.”
This is the first year West Virginia has received this type of funding from the CNCS, although the agency regularly provides money to help pay for other AmeriCorps service programs in the state.
President Trump proposed cutting funds from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
There are about 180 active AmeriCorps volunteers working in West Virginia. A new partnership between Volunteer West Virginia and the Red Cross is training many of these AmeriCorps to be ready to serve communities affected by disasters. Some of these volunteers have already been deployed in the last few weeks to assist residents affected by flooding and mudslides as part of a new statewide program called Disaster Corps.
The first week in March, homes in southern West Virginia were damaged, and people were displaced because of mudslides, snowstorms, and flooding. A Pocahontas County native, Shinaberry said that when the call came asking for volunteers to travel down to icy Mingo County, she said yes, even though she was apprehensive that she didn’t have enough carpentry skills.
“I have experience cause I grew up in a farming area, so I’m not new to hands on stuff. But I didn’t know what was going to be expected of me. I really don’t know how to build or repair anything.”
Credit Volunteer West Virginia
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AmeriCorps members Torya Cummings, Jamielle Jackson, and Christin Shinaberry have signed up for a new program, called Disaster Corps
Thankfully, Shinaberry and her fellow AmeriCorps volunteers were working alongside other groups, like the American Baptist Men, who taught them how to do things like remove damaged drywall and carpets from homes that were affected by mudslides and flooding.
Another Disaster Corps volunteer, Jamielle Jackson, is originally from Detroit, where there is no shortage of need for assistance. But she says communities in Detroit are not used to the type of flooding people in southern West Virginia see.
Most of the Disaster Corps volunteers were involved with hands on work. But some of them, like Beckley native Torya Cummings, also helped with casework and getting folks set up with food, clothing and shelter.
“It was exciting and sad all at the same time to see the devastation that they have suffered, even the little things, like sliding your shoes on just walking out of the house, they had to leave without their shoes. And I mean, it’s like, minus 11 minus 10.”
Stephanie Yu is the executive director of Volunteer West Virginia, and she explains the Disaster Corps program came about partly in response to last year’s water crisis in Kanawha County, and the Derecho back in 2012. “There was sort of this idea that we needed to have this infrastructure so that when things like that happen we could have people ready to go.”
The Disaster Corps program is a partnership between Volunteer West Virginia and disaster response agencies, like the American Red Cross.
When there isn’t a disaster, these AmeriCorps continue to work on longer-term projects, like tutoring children or helping veterans. Torya Cummings admits leaving Mingo County after aiding in flood relief in the short term felt a little bit strange- almost like she was abandoning them.
“It was difficult leaving them and knowing I’m going home. and you have to stay here in this hotel, or you’re going to have to find family members that can take you in, or just totally rebuild. That’s got to be hard.”
A week after she returned from Mingo County, Cummings was deployed to Kanawha County to help residents displaced from the Yeager Airport Landslide. Some of those residents are still evacuated from their homes in the area directly affected by the slide, Keystone Drive, while others are in the process of deciding to stay in the area or sell their homes and move away.
There’s a place in historic downtown Martinsburg that’s known to the community as… the BE-Hive. It’s spelled B-E, meaning “to be,” and “hive” meaning “home.” It’s an activity center for children, but it’s not a drop-off point. The parents have to be involved too.
That’s Mike Schaeffer on his guitar. Mike is the vice president of BE-Hive, and before most BE-Hive events, he’s playing on his guitar and singing songs with the children. He gives an excited little girl the chance to strum on his guitar as he presses the chords. Her face lights up as she hears the change in pitches that she is helping to make. Activities at BE-Hive are aimed at children up to the age of 13, but Mike Schaeffer says the BE-Hive isn’t just for children.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Mike and Robin Schaeffer, owners of BE-Hive
“One of the important things was, since we wanted it not just to be a drop-off for kids,” Mike said, “we wanted it to be for parents and their kids, we wanted also the parents to be comfy, so we have comfy like living room seating with couches, we have little café tables that the parents can sit and talk with each other or they can sit and play games with their children.”
“The first time we came, I thought this is wonderful,” said Allison Lemaster, a BE-Hive regular, “I can sit and I talk with other mums and I can watch my kids, I don’t have to send my kids off to another room, I can watch my kids play, and I can have a bit of relaxing time talking with parents instead of five-year-olds and three-year-olds, and it was just like the kind of play group that I had been looking for, but it’s so much more than just a play group.”
Since BE-Hive opened in October 2012, more than 11,000 people have come through its doors. The organization is open to anyone, but President and co-founder, Robin Schaeffer says, BE-Hive serves many teen mothers and single parents. She hopes it provides a stable home away from home.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“It’s designed to be cozy and comfy and to invite you in just like you’re coming home,” Robin explained, “so we have a kitchen table that we’re sitting at right now, with a little kitchen cabinet. We have a living room with lots of games to play, we have a library with cozy, big comfy chairs.”
BE-Hive is funded through grants from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Panhandle and from United Way; however, most of its funding comes from community donations. Each month, the organization hosts free events and programs on topics like the arts, math, languages, health, and there’s also story time.
The Schaeffers developed the idea for BE-Hive while volunteering with what is now the Emmanuel House, in the basement of a church in Martinsburg. Robin and her husband, Mike, volunteered to hold activities for the children, while their parents attended a separate program.
“So that kind of led to our idea of having a place called BE-Hive,” Robin remembers, “where parents and children would be together and learn some of the things that we were wanting to teach the children.”
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The Schaeffers say BE-Hive has affected families in more ways than they ever expected. They’ve seen children grow as people, make friends, and they’ve also seen some of the parents change. Robin remembers when one of her regular mothers came in with her daughter, and her daughter’s estranged father. She told Robin they hadn’t seen him in over a year.
“I watched him because I was curious,” Robin said, “and he you know, made no motion to really do anything but just sat in the chair at the table most of the time. Then he came back again, and then he came back again, and we have seen him now, you know hugging and loving his daughter, and you can just feel it, that he’s involved.”
BE-Hive is open four days a week for families of all different backgrounds and incomes. Robin and Mike Schaeffer say it has far surpassed their original mission, and they hope their organization will continue to thrive, as long as the funding allows.
